Federal prosecutors are claiming in a court filing that former White House official Peter Navarro told agents who were attempting to serve him with a subpoena to "get the f*** out of here," the Washington Examiner is reporting.
The court papers were filed Monday. Prosecutors also claim that their actions used in his arrest days later were appropriate for an "unpredictable subject" with "an extensive history of seeking news coverage."
"Contrary to the defendant's claims, however, it is not law enforcement's normal practice to ask combative, unrepresented subjects to self-surrender," the government prosecutors argued in the filing.
Navarro, the former White House trade adviser, was indicted in June on contempt charges after failing to testify before the House committee probing the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
He was charged with one contempt count for failing to appear for a deposition before the House committee. The second charge is for failing to produce documents the panel was seeking, according to The Associated Press.
The Justice Department claims that several days before he was arrested at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., he first "refused to open the door" of his house to agents serving him a subpoena. When he did, Navarro told the agents to get out in no uncertain terms, the filing said.
In the court papers, prosecutors also maintain Navarro's arrest at the airport followed the U.S. Marshal's standard arrest procedures, including being strip searched and put in leg restraints.
Navarro claims that being put in "leg irons" and strip searched were discriminatory measures for someone facing the type of charges that he is, the Examiner noted.
The government claims in the court papers that in order to "avoid a media circus, the arresting agents encountered the defendant in a discrete location on the jet-bridge at the airport, removed him to the tarmac, and took him to be booked from there — all out of sight of the public."
Federal prosecutors argue in the filing that, "contrary to the defendant's claims, however, it is not law enforcement's normal practice to ask combative, unrepresented subjects to self-surrender."
The Examiner said it is seeking comment from Navarro regarding the government claims.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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